More than Just a Rating discussion

It may seem obvious to you - but I know I was surprised to learn other points of view about this.

The first reviews I wrote when I joined goodreads were intended mainly just to help me remember better the books that I read.

I'm pretty much the same way. I started writing reviews because I read so many that I need to crystallize them in my mind by writing a bit about them.

I've found it helps me enjoy reading a lot more, too, to be able to look back once in a while. :)

I write reviews for several reasons. I feel it’s part of my citizenship to goodreads.com. Sometimes I feel a need to clarify the books readability as a stand alone in a series. Rarely I find a book that I enjoyed so much I just have to write my praises about it. Sometimes I have been the only one to write a review and try to give a very brief blurb about the main story line, without giving away the story.

I view the review box as an opportunity. I came to goodreads because I thought it a wonderful place to discuss books. My review is a brief summary of my feelings about a book, my relationship with it. And, yes, Ralph, now that I think about it, it is part of my citizenship to goodreads.com.

I used to keep a reading log on paper with a tiny box for a blurb. But that got misplaced and I hadn't ever gotten around to finding an easier way to keep track of things. Then I discovered Goodreads. Organize and review! Best of both worlds IMO.

And many of the books I read are very VERY old or among the millions of now OP romances from the 70s-80s. Not many reviews on the more obscure ones, and I like giving some information about these titles since I bought so many of them without knowing plots or even covers because no one else had thought to do it and put it out there on the internet. So yeah, I feel the citizenship pull of reviewing everything, even a 1768 piece of Iliad fanfiction.

I could give all sorts of reasons for this, from wanting to help inform other readers make their reading choices, to wanting to share my own unique take on a book, to wanting to bring attention to long overlooked books or provide a different view on overwhelming popular titles.

But the most important reason, and the one which is at the root of why I began writing reviews, was because I felt compelled to do so. I didn't do it for anyone else - I wrote reviews for over a year just for myself, showing them to no one, simply because I wanted to write. And once I started I couldn't stop. Only after a long time did I start showing my reviews to a couple of close friends and family, and they urged me to post them up on Amazon. I was kinda wary because of the biased voting that goes on on Ammy, especially since a few of my reviews slammed very popular books, but I've been doing alright and my reviews have been far more well recieved than I dared hope. Then I met Misfit on Ammy and she encouraged me to join Goodreads and review here as well. :) I like it here much better because I feel more free to write what I want in my reviews because I know I won't be subject to attacks from legions of author fans and so on, but I also like it here because I can organise my real life bookshelves and bring some virtual order to them!

I'm most driven by my compulsion to be helpful to others. My most helpful reviews are those that provide information that other reviews may not show. I like to share my views on various editions of books so readers can make informed choices about which editions to choose. Unfortunately, I think my reviews are only useful to my friends and me, as popular books have many reviews and mine just get lost in the pages and pages of reviews.

I do it because everyone else is doing it. lol JK.

I think I write mine mostly for me and perhaps a little now for my friends who may be interested in my reading taste. But in truth I don't really write proper reviews and I'm hopeful I can learn from you guys.

Karla - very cool - that 'book' obviously needed your review!

Beth - I for one am very glad you've decided to share your efforts here - I used to rely on Amazon's reviews and now I almost never look at them (only when nobody has adopted a lost book here, as Karla did, and as Ralph is doing with the librivox stories)

Debra - glad you joined! Specifically reviewing different editions definitely counts for lots of books, especially, for example, audiobooks with narrators of different abilities. We need to have a topic thread about reviewing editions somewhere in this group... (off to check...)

Thanks Cheryl.

If you start a new discussion here, you could point to my thread in the GR Feedbacks group if you like. It is here:

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/6...

Hopefully non-members can read it?

I'm not sure. Good point. I've started something in the 'questions and discussions' folder.

When I first started writing reviews it was just for my own entertainment -- my way of "talking" about the book to the website rather than my long-suffering spouse.

Now the act of writing a review has me thinking differently about the books I'm reading. It's no longer just a case of "I liked this book a lot", it's got me thinking specifically about what it was that I liked about it. I'm enjoying my reading a whole lot more.

And, of course, I'm still blabbing away about the books I'm reading, it's just now a whole lot more people are listening, lol.

Lol! About talking about books to the spouse. When I told my fiance I was going to start a blog reviewing books he said, "Thank GOD!". I think he's sick of hearing about them for some reason... Hmm!

Sarah wrote: "When I told my fiance I was going to start a blog reviewing books he said, "Thank GOD!"

LOL! My poor husband -- I read mostly historical romances. You can imagine how thrilled he was when I quit telling him about the storylines in my books. :)

'to stop annoying our spouses' - good reason to write reviews!

I write reviews mostly to help potential readers decide whether or not they want to read a book. I figure by what I say about why I liked/disliked a book, others will be able to better tell if they'll like/dislike a book, not necessarily agreeing with me.

More and more often, I'm finding I'm writing reviews to help me remember them, and I also particularly find I want to write worthy reviews for books I've especially loved because I want to "highlight" them so that other Goodreads' members are more likely to find those books; this is particularly true for lesser known books.

I write reviews when the book has something I really loved or really hated -- writing, character, idea, plot element, graphic, etc.

Karla (Mossy Love Grotto) wrote: "And many of the books I read are very VERY old or among the millions of now OP romances from the 70s-80s. Not many reviews on the more obscure ones, and I like giving some information about these titles since I bought so many of them without knowing plots or even covers because no one else had thought to do it and put it out there on the internet. So yeah, I feel the citizenship pull of reviewing everything, even a 1768 piece of Iliad fanfiction."

I've actually read and found a lot of your old 'bodice-ripper' reviews very helpful and informative! Nice to "meet" you on here :)

I started writing my reviews on here at first to help myself remember a few thoughts about the book and say whether I liked it or not. Then I grew to writing them more as a book report to myself as a way to remember the plot and characters for when I want to go back and look through them later. Also because no one I know personally in my life is too into reading, so I have no one to talk about books with, and so it's my way of gushing out my immediate thoughts and opinion of the book.

"I want to write worthy reviews for books I've especially loved because I want to "highlight" them so that other Goodreads' members are more likely to find those books; this is particularly true for lesser known books."

I think I've kinda been doing this once in a while, but you make such a good point I'm going to try to focus more specifically on it.

I love the not annoying your spouse reason, too funny. I'm lucky in that my husband loves to read and that we actually have a lot of books we share. My husband did do his first review just a week or so ago. He shares my account so if anyone checks my reviews maybe pass some comments his way.

I also like that so many of you are doing it for the greater good. I kind of feel selfish in my reason, which I go into more detail in my 'introduce yourself' post earlier today. It is to help me with my reading comprehension after a brain injury years ago. Ultimately though, I think no matter what our individual reasons, it is the overall love of reading and wanting to share that love, that leads us to reviewing.

Tammy wrote: "LOL! My poor husband -- I read mostly historical romances. You can imagine how thrilled he was when I quit telling him about the storylines in my books. :) "

I thought of this comment early today when, out on our daily walk with the dogs, I started to tell my husband about the book I'm reading. Can you picture eye rolls?

I read the comments from Elizabeth and Tammy to my husband, and he says he can sympathize and feel their pain, as he laughed like it was an inside joke between men.

Wow! Everyone here has written so well and it already have cover what I wanted to say about writing reviews.

Cheryl, I am now where you started when you joined GR.

An update on discussing reading:

I was telling my husband about the shelves we have here, Read, Currently Reading, To Be Read, etc. After my story regarding them there was sort of a silence, so I said that's not Red as opposed to Green. Whereupon he said, yeah, I thought Red, and then I wondered what To Be Red looked like - does it have primer on it or something?

Dawn wrote: "I kind of feel selfish in my reason, which I go into more detail in my 'introduce yourself' post earlier today. "

Don't feel selfish at all, Dawn! I can't even imagine what that would be like, or how much work it would be to come back from a brain injury. I read your post in the introductions thread and wanted to say then: Kudos to you! You are exactly right though, it's the love of reading and the desire to share that is probably the main reason we're all doing this.

Now, if you want to hear a really selfish reasons for reviewing, (whispers) I just like to hear myself talk. ;D

Secretly i review because i think that all of my words are golden and should be captured for posterity. that's also why i tweet. ;)

:) I like this:)
I will follow your reviews.

Sarah wrote: "Secretly i review because i think that all of my words are golden and should be captured for posterity. that's also why i tweet. ;)"

Lol. BTW, even if one isn't inclined to *write* a full review, I really do fine a few comments about why you like and/or hated a book. Some of these older obscure ones may have a star rating rating from members but no comments as to why. It really does help to give me something...anything...as to why you rated it that way.

Misfit wrote: "Some of these older obscure ones may have a star rating rating from members but no comments as to why."

Nothing intrigues me more than a book with nothing but a lonely 1 star rating and no comments. I think, "You hated the book and didn't want to get anything off your chest? Even incoherent profanity?" :P

So I usually end up getting it via Swap or Bookmooch so I can read it for myself and review it.

I know, add to that no cover and no blurb and I have to get it.

Tammy wrote: "Dawn wrote: "I kind of feel selfish in my reason, which I go into more detail in my 'introduce yourself' post earlier today. "

Don't feel selfish at all, Dawn! I can't even imagine what that wo..."

Thanks, Tammy, for making me laugh. The reason I say selfish is because I'm initially doing it for my self as cognitive therapy (only wish I could use my book purchases as a medical expenses for my taxes, ah, wouldn't that be heaven) and then secondly for the other reasons. I sincerelt appreciate your kind words, the injury was something I couldn't talk about for years, so even though I still feel funny bringing it up, it is getting better admitting it out loud, so to speak.

I'll keep it quiet about your real reason for writing reviews. ;~)

Dawn, if it seems reasonable to think of it this way, we're all doing this for selfish reasons, even those of us who feel like we're contributing to the site in some way.

I TRY to write a good enough review so it helps others to decide if that book is for them or not. Also because if I really enjoyed it I like others to know why & also I can go back and say "oh..yeah..I remember that one...And is it just me or has anyone ever noticed that the authors read & rate (star) but give no review?**scratches head** how..come? :/

A commendable mission by Misfit and Karla, to save and give a voice to all those lonely, forgotten books out there. I understand the need to give those books a face, a pat on the back whether positive or negative, just to let them know that somebody cares and that they are not totally forgotten. We get the fun of tagging along on these journeys and joining in on the excitement of finding those hidden gems. Keep up your great work on this hard, arduous, sometimes unforgiving task.

I ran across a review recently where someone gave the book 1 star and then in the review stated "I really liked this book.... " Yes, I see how much they liked it with a 1 star rating. lol. Can't remember the book, sorry.

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Dawn, if it seems reasonable to think of it this way, we're all doing this for selfish reasons, even those of us who feel like we're contributing to the site in some way."

That makes complete sense, I guess for some reason I personally feel guilty over my initial reason I do reviews, maybe it's ultimately about my feelings towards my injuries. Or maybe when I get better at writing them I won't feel so guilty, ha-ha. To further add to your comment though, I believe we do reviews for the greater good of passing along our love/obsession of reading and sharing that passion with others.

Sandi wrote: "And is it just me or has anyone ever noticed that the authors read & rate (star) but give no review?**scratches head** how..come? :/"

Hi Sandi - I'm thinking they just don't want to p#%! anyone off. ;)

Karla wrote: "Nothing intrigues me more than a book with nothing but a lonely 1 star rating and no comments."

Hi Karla -- sometimes I feel so blah about a 1 or 2 star book that I just am too lazy to write anything about it. :)

Dawn wrote: "Thanks, Tammy, for making me laugh.."


Anytime! :)

I've started writing reviews for a couple of reasons. The first is that I read so many books in a year - knowing I want to write a review when I'm finished makes me pay attention just a smidgen more, and helps me remember (and understand) what I've read. The second reason is that I've always been a poor writer (I have trouble putting my thoughts into words - they always feel so inconcrete) and this seems to help me and gives me some confidence in my verbal skills ;)

I have no expectation that my reviews will help anyone, but I secretly get a thrill when someone "likes" one of my reviews.

You have good points there KristenR..and I always read my friends reviews,even if that book is not something I would read normally, I feel out of respect to that friend.. they took the time to put their words down and express their experince with that book. I hope that when I hit the "like" button they know I took the time to read & enjoy what they wrote..as well as give confidence to those just trying out reviews for the first time..and surprise..Ive added books that I didnt think Id try..thanks to the review :)

Hi all! Thanks, Debra, for recommending this group. :-)

I initially started writing reviews because I appreciate good reviews myself. There have been plenty of times I've been on the fence, but reviews from others have helped make up my mind whether to try a book. Of course, there are so many reviews here that the only people who probably see mine are my friends, but that's ok. And not all of my reviews are full-fledged good reviews. Some are just brief comments on why I did or did not like a book.

But what I've noticed over time is that if I don't write a review, then years (or even just months) after I've read a book, I can't remember specifics of what I really liked or didn't like. Sad, I know. lol So now, most of the reviews I write start with notes in my journaling software, eventually making it to an official review here.

KristenR wrote: "The first is that I read so many books in a year - knowing I want to write a review when I'm finished makes me pay attention just a smidgen more, and helps me remember (and understand) what I've read."

I agree with this too. It's like, instead of moving on to a new book right away after I finish, I take the time to sit back and rethink what happened in the book. Start to finish, and sort of re-cap for myself the highlights and basic information. And then I go back and read them every once in awhile. Mostly b/c I like 'hearing' myself talk about my books :)

Kit wrote: "And then I go back and read them every once in awhile. Mostly b/c I like 'hearing' myself talk about my books :)"

Oh, thank God! I thought I was the only one who did that. ;D

Lol, good to know we're not alone :)

KristenR wrote: "I've started writing reviews for a couple of reasons. The first is that I read so many books in a year - knowing I want to write a review when I'm finished makes me pay attention just a smidgen mo..."

I certainly liked this and it is true for me as well :)

Kit★ wrote: "Lol, good to know we're not alone :)"

No you are not. Besides, I still end up catching typos I missed the first time around.

Misfit wrote: "Besides, I still end up catching typos I missed the first time around."

Doesn't that just annoy you no end? I always think I'm being quite good at catching them and then it seems like all of a sudden one is in bold, just leaping off the page.

Yea, I hate that when I go back and catch a typo or a silly grammatical error in my review. Especially one that I know better, like their and they're or something y'know? But when writing my review, sometimes I just get so caught up in trying to get out what I want to say that the fingers just fly over the keys and get ahead of my brain lol.